Last Peace
Last Peace is the finale of DBE Series 15 and the very last story of Daniel's timeline, following directly from The Path of the Doctor. Synopsis Allura McCoy wakes up to the sound of a familiar voice, asking her the last thing she recalls. "Dying. So much pain...2050 AD, I believe, in the snow. The Doctor-" "The Doctor?" "Yes...the Doctor." She bolts up, seeing her son Soval Yoccm. Another voice causes her to turn to her right, seeing her daughter Chrissie MaCockenshipiel and Mew are also alive. Miss Glowbug then steps forward, causing Allura to see that it was a project by her...until seeing the now-reformed Susan Wise behind Miss Glowbug. Running over and grabbing Susan by the throat, Allura remarks that "I should've known you would bring me and Chrissie back to life for your own personal hell!" before seething that she hadn't forgotten the time loop trap Susan had set for her. Before she can be calmed, however, another girl materializes out of thin air – Hannah Benfield. Allura surmises that Susan not only "sent that fake Doctor to kill me, and now you bring Miss Benfield here as well?! '''Where is this place?'"'' Hannah quickly surmises that they are in the Azumanga Politburo universe, and that she used force of will to counteract what the real Eleventh Doctor did to her, retaining her 550-plus years of age, experience, and memories. Knowing where she is, she asks a staff member about Professor Dleifneb (to borrow the Big Catfish and free her father's memories), but is instead escorted to Chairperson Chiyo. Chiyo explains that the Professor and his daughters (Hana, Hakibar, and Harras) were exiled from the Politburo for, rather than obeying Chiyo's direct orders and terminating the robotic Nanami, giving her to a man in a smoking jacket. In apparent revenge, the Professor stole the faulty Big Catfish and its plans, going out into the stars with his daughters and leaving a single note; he also stole the one Camouflage Bypass prototype. While Hannah tries to stifle a smile at this development, she is told that she – like the others in the hospital area – are hence stuck in this universe. That night, during the Chairperson's birthday party, Allura (since brought up to speed on events along with her daughter) finds Hannah on a "hill" and tries to comfort her; Hannah, sobbing, says that while she can see and talk to her father through the Doctor's ring (still on her hand), he will simply never know the truth. She then walks to the edge and, with nothing left to live for (despite Allura's insistence that she can live in his name), walks toward the cliff edge... Ending One Hannah realizes that the so-called "Doctor" is wanting her to commit suicide, and yells for Allura to pull her away from the cliff (which she does, back to the rock). The Eleventh Doctor then appears in a ghostly form, explaining to Allura (who asks him what right he has to do these things) that Hannah is not supposed to exist in this way in any universe. This earns the ire of his granddaughter, who has heard these things and who proceeds to tear into him. "The sole reasonable course of action, then, would be to return Mr. Benfield to his proper place aboard the TARDIS and restore Hannah to him, with you in this particular form back to your '''own' timeline. Well, grandfather?"'' After a while, the Doctor responds with a simple "No.", the image dissipating and sending a shock to Hannah's ring, killing it. It is at this point that Chiyo, having been witness to these events, begins to console Hannah: namely, by telling her that although she cannot see her father again, the Doctor has opted to let them live. As the four return to the party, Chiyo begins telling a story about a girl, her father, and her best friend finding a dog on the side of a lake... Ending Two Hannah jumps off, only to be woken up by her real father, Chris – it's time to go to church, on May 25, 2008. Following service, she and Daniel see each other; for a long moment, a series of strange thoughts boil up and each wants to tell the other, but are afraid of being shrugged off. "So they turned and walked their separate ways." Notes * Allura makes reference to the trap set by Susan in History Is Immobile (which Susan expressed regret for creating in the "she dies" path of Project RINI), her death by the real Eleventh Doctor in Death Is But A Whisper, and Chrissie's death in The Death of a MaCockenshipiel. * Chiyo makes reference to "M", still stuck in the form of the Third Doctor, acquiring the robotic Nanami following the real one's apparent death near the end of Azumanga Who. * The "credits" of Ending One are set to a piano version of the Doctor Who theme (called "Moonlight"), played by Mew during Chiyo's birthday party. Comrade Sakaki sits next to him, with Hannah eventually sitting on the piano near the end. On the final note, the DBE logo is shown in the BBC logo style, changing from "DBE" to "BBC". * In Ending Two, Hannah wakes up on May 25, 2008 – the day after Azu-Who Episode 1 was published. The End? The author has toyed with the concept of a subsequent story likely called Happy Endings (HAPYEND), set in the present day, which would follow Ending Two. Happy Endings would begin with the First Doctor slipping an envelope addressed to Hannah (and containing his ring) through the Tippett mail slot; Hannah would put on the ring, which would restore her "Doctor" self, and afterward anger Chris by referring to Daniel as her father. Subsequently, she would not only have to find Daniel but outrun Chris' vehicle, as he would (over the objections of his wife) rather kill Hannah than lose her to Daniel; by the time Hannah finds Daniel, she has run a considerable distance and suffered several injuries. After a bit of deliberation and banging on the door by Chris (wielding a baseball bat), Daniel would put on the ring and restore his "Doctor" self, then confront an unsuspecting Chris. It would be suggested, if not shown, that the First Doctor and Rachel found the TARDIS and went inside, only to discover the "Eleventh" incarnation at the controls. A scuffle would ensue as the truth comes out, with Rachel perhaps killed in the process. The ring would be forcibly retrieved from the "Eleventh" incarnation (who himself retrieved it from Hannah between her death and return to 2008), after which the First Doctor would place it in an envelope addressed to Hannah. The story, and Daniel's canon, would close with Daniel and Hannah roaming Earth together to find the Ship per the ring's instructions. Category:Stories Category:Unpublished Stories